


Maxalotl the Axolotl Detective

by tigerflower (peadragon)



Series: My D&D babies [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: F/M, Korva isn't owned by me, and the rating will change accordingly, and there will be a warning at the beginning of explicit chapters, because I don't know how long it will take me to add more, but it will get explicit, he belongs to one of the other players, my d&d characters, so props where they're due, this is rated for general audiences for now, who helped me write all his dialogue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 01:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21028187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peadragon/pseuds/tigerflower
Summary: Max is an axolotl person, emphasis on the person. If you need someone to hunt down the truth, sort the fact from the fiction, or otherwise get to the bottom of a situation, she’s your gal.If you think you might freak out or overreact in any way to meeting a person who is part axolotl, please take the time to do so in the privacy of your own home, before engaging Max’s services. Max may be the first axolotl person you’ve ever met, but that doesn’t mean you have to be the twentieth person today that felt the need to point it out to her.





	Maxalotl the Axolotl Detective

**Author's Note:**

> These will be missing a lot of context for people not in the related game, but they might still be interesting to others.
> 
> Also, for those who aren't familiar with her, [here's a link to some art of Max](https://tygerflower.tumblr.com/post/176051205308/maldecorum-commission-of-an-axolotl-dnd-character) by the very talented [maldecorum](https://tmblr.co/m7bYoEoXuJZfcdmr0ckdiZA) on tumblr.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter about the best day of Max's life. Once she gets over the shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was co-written by me & Korva's player. We each wrote half & then we put our heads together to edit the whole thing so that it wasn't too obvious it was written by two different people. Hopefully.

Max smiled slightly to herself as she watched Korva bouncing up and down and ascending the steps to his mother’s house. Shava had already bounded ahead of him and was tapping on the door with one of her paws, impatient to be inside. As excited to be home as they were, Korva had insisted on seeing Max safely to her own house first. Max hadn’t known until they’d gotten there if she could stand to stay in the place anymore. Then she’d stepped inside, and she knew instantly that she couldn’t. Everywhere she looked, all she could see was animal people corpses. She’d cried out, and out of nowhere Korva had been in front of her, hands on her shoulders, pulling her back to reality, and the visions had disappeared. After that was a blur of gathering what she could not bear to leave behind and stashing it in her portable hole where it sat heavily on her mind, reminding her that beyond this visit Max had nowhere to go. Shaking these depressing thoughts to the back of her mind, Max stepped onto the bottom step as Korva began to rap on the door along with his panther, dancing on the spot.

Less than a minute had passed before an older woman, Korva’s mother, opened the door, pulling back her hair. Seeing her son on the doorstep, Balama broke into a smile, and she reached out to embrace him. Max once again noted the strange appearance of the family - Korva’s purple hair and eyes looked more normal when compared to Balama’s green hair / orange eyes combination. Her mind painted a picture of herself beside them; neither of them looked as strange as her own pink-and-black half-axolotl weirdness. Just as quickly, Max pushed the image away; it was better not to dream of impossibilities.

“Oh, welcome home, my boy!” Balama said into Korva’s shoulder as they hugged. “Come in, come in, I have lunch almost ready, any minute now. Hello, Shava!” Korva let go of his mother as she leaned down to rub Shava behind her ears.

“I missed you,” Korva stepped into the house, and gestured for Max to step forward. “Mum, you remember –”

“Miss Max, of course, welcome,” Balama’s smile widened. She stepped forward; Max began to raise her hand for a handshake, but Balama simply stepped around it and wrapped her arms around her. “Or is it still Maxalotl?”

“Uh, just Max is fine, Mrs. Dex.” Max glanced at Korva as she returned Balama’s embrace; hugging was new for Max, and she wasn’t sure she was doing it right. Korva had kneeled down and was rubbing Shava’s side and smiling at them.

“I told you last time, call me Balama,” the older woman stepped back from the embrace, and looked Max over, taking in her new clothes; their last adventure had been good for Max and Korva, and both had new gear.

“Well, lunch won’t cook itself,” Balama sighed, and turned to re-enter her home. “Come in, make yourselves at home.”

_Now_, Max thought to herself, just as Korva announced “I’ll help,” surprising no-one.

“Gods, no, you’re terrible with food, you lay the table. Max, come in, I’ll show you around the kitchen.” Balama began to sing as she watched Shava race through the open door to the backyard. A few moments later, Korva joined the song, singing in harmony with his mother. Max smiled as she listened, thinking wistfully about how in sync the two of them were.

Balama led the way into the kitchen, while Korva rushed to the table and began to clear away some of his mother’s things. Balama scooped up a spatula and scraped it underneath what appeared to be a vegetable patty sizzling on her hotplate. She turned to say something to Max but spotted something over her shoulder instead. Handing off the utensil, Balama stepped around Max and pointed an angry finger at her son.

“What have I told you about swords?” Balama admonished him as Max struggled to flip the meatless concoction without her supervision.

“Oh, I forgot, sorry,” Korva apologised. Max threw a look over her shoulder when she heard the sound of Korva drawing the blade, just in time to see Balama freeze mid-step. Obviously, whatever rule she had about swords forbade wielding them in the dining room.

“Watch, I learned a new trick!” Korva grinned, and with a wave of his hand, the blade turned into smoke and vanished into his open palm. Balama smiled, and Max smiled along with her.

“So talented, with magic,” Balama said, beaming. “Just like your father.” Then she turned to see Max wrecking her carefully prepared meal. “Oh, dear, no! Like this,” she admonished gently, and laid her hand on Max’s. It was difficult, but Max kept her composure as Balama began to teach her how to cook, just like a real mother would.

* * *

“Thank you, Balama, that was… creative,” Max willed her stomach to settle as she finished the last of her food. There had been far too many vegetables in the meal, and Max may have normally politely declined, but she hadn’t wanted to be the reason that Balama stopped smiling, even for a second.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have any fish for you, Max. Since you’re back in town I’ll go to the market tomorrow and stock up,” Balama smiled again. Max just nodded, embarrassed to have been caught. Korva, as usual, was mostly oblivious; he was busy playing footsies with Shava under the table.

“So,” Balama looked across at Korva as she spoke again, “how long have you two been together?”

Surprised by the question, Max and Korva gave different answers.

“You mean _together _together. Why would you think that? Ha ha no we’re just friends,” Max answered rapid-fire, feeling her cheeks flush from pale pink to bright red. Korva’s answer was muffled to Max, as he waved his hand and cast what Max recognised as Message. Balama winked as she answered him, but Max was once again shut out.

Korva turned back towards Max, and they stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before Max broke the silence. “Besides, who would be interested in this?” she sputtered as she gestured to her axolotl body, trying to relieve the tension. Korva frowned, then he said the last thing Max was expecting.

“I’m in love with you.” His head cocked slightly to the side. “Didn’t you know?”

“I’ll just clean up the dishes,” Balama nearly laughed, and slid herself away from the table.

Max barely noticed her go, she just stared dumbfounded over at Korva. A million responses rose to her lips.

Like… _love_ love?

No, you aren't.

Really?

Since when?

You don't mean that.

Do you?

But I'm…

And you're…

_Why_?

But she bit all of them back down. Now that she was looking for it, she could see the Truth plain as day in his eyes. Even as the misanthropic, self-loathing parts of her screamed objections and denials, her fragile hope clung desperately to everything she'd ever wanted but never thought she could have: for someone to look at her and see a person worth loving.

To Max's horror she felt a tear run down her cheek, then another. She dashed them away angrily. Usually she revelled in being abnormal, but just this once couldn't she have an appropriate emotional response to something?

Korva sat in silence, allowing her the time she needed to process what he had said, but his concern at her tears showed in his eyes.

“I'm sorry,” Max mumbled, hunching in on herself and looking down to her lap. "I just… I never thought. I never even imagined I'd ever hear anyone say that, let alone you…” Max's heart was pounding in her chest. He'd just said he loved her, and she believed him, why was it still so hard for her to say this?

Straightening her shoulders, Max took a deep breath & looked back up at him. “I love you,” she whispered. “I never thought I’d say that out loud, but I do. I have forever, although it took me a little while to realise it. I never told you because I… Well, I'm a coward, basically. And I truly never thought for a second that you… You really do?”

Korva didn't hesitate, and Max loved him even more for it. “Yes,” he said simply.

Max felt the tears well up in her eyes again as she stared in wonder at the man she loved. The man who, for some inexplicable reason, apparently loved her back. In hindsight, it was obvious. How could she have missed it? Easy. She’d told herself that he was just like that; that he was basically a puppy in human form and just because he (mostly metaphorically, but sometimes also literally) wagged his tail when he looked at her, it didn't mean anything. It didn't make her special. She told herself that he was so open. If he liked her like that, he’d tell her. But he hadn’t. Max was fully aware that it was hypocritical of her to be hurt by that, but she was.

“Why didn't you say anything?” she asked quietly.

Korva didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked away from Max and ran his hand over his beard, like he did when he needed to compose his thoughts. Then he sat back in the chair and began to drum his fingers across the table to the tune of _My Beloved Monster_; Max’s eyes flicked to the table as she recognised his go-to song for encouraging her, and she was hit with another wave of _holy shit, how was I so oblivious_?

Finally, he stopped and shrugged. “Well, you said we were friends,” he mumbled almost to himself, then returned his gaze to Max. “And you don't lie, so I just focused on being your friend.”

All of the guilt Max had been carrying at keeping her feelings from him rose to the surface. Her frills flattened against the sides of her head, and she looked down at her feet. “I don't lie,” she mumbled. “But sometimes I'm too scared to say the whole Truth.” She’d known she should have told him. It didn’t matter if he’d rejected her, or if he didn’t want to be her friend anymore. She should have told him. It was the Truth and he deserved to know it. He deserved to know how special he was to her.

“Did I do something wrong?” Korva asked tentatively, reaching out as though to take her hand and then hesitating. “I don’t have a lot of experience with this so I’m not sure what to expect, but when I imagined how telling you might go, you never looked this sad.”

Max smiled wanly up at him. “I don’t have _any_ experience with this, but no, this feels like a me problem.” She sighed. “I’ve gone and gotten my emotional fucked-up-ness all over what should be the happiest day of my life.”

Max squared her shoulders determinedly. “Could you say it again?” she asked. “I can do better this time.”

Korva looked confused for a moment. Then he smiled. Taking her face in his hands, he leaned forward and looked her dead in the eyes. “I'm in love with you.”

Max grinned widely. She was never going to get used to hearing that. “I love you too,” she squeaked, before burying her face in his chest, her cheeks glowing bright pink. Korva kissed her softly on the top of her head, before wrapping his arms around her shoulders, holding her gently against him.

They sat like that for a while, then Shava thrust her head between them, indignant that the pats had stopped. Max gave a shaky laugh and reached out to scritch her behind the ear.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Korva make the Message gesture again. Moments later, Balama walked back into the room. Max focused on petting Shava, so she didn’t have to face the knowing smile she was sure Balama was directing at them.

Finally, Max looked up. “ln answer to your earlier question, about two minutes now,” she said, reaching out to twine her fingers with Korva’s.

Balama beamed over at them. “Well then, welcome to the family,” she said. “Now go throw up, dear, you look positively horrible.”


End file.
